Imran Khan Did Not Request Better Prison Facilities from President Zardari, PM Shehbaz

Certain news outlets reported on Saturday that PTI founder Imran Khan and his party had urged President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to provide better prison facilities at Adiala Jail through a letter from his counsel, Advocate Azhar Siddique. However, the former prime minister and his party have made no such request. A fact check from Dawn revealed that Imran Khan did not ask for any privileges.

Imran Khan 

Pakistan  ⸻ Imran is currently serving his sentence in the Iddat case at Adiala Jail. His sentences in the two Toshakhana cases have been suspended, and he was acquitted by the Islamabad High Court in the cipher case.

During a Supreme Court hearing on May 30, Imran claimed he was in solitary confinement without access to any materials, legal assistance, or a library.

The federal government disputed these claims and, on June 6, submitted a report to the Supreme Court detailing the facilities and arrangements provided to him at Adiala Jail, including pictures. The PTI criticized the state of Imran’s prison conditions.

Today, Express Tribune published a report titled, “Imran Khan seeks better jail conditions in letter to President Zardari and PM Shehbaz.” The introduction of the report states: “Imran Khan, the incarcerated founding leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has urged President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to ensure proper jail facilities through a letter penned by his counsel, Azhar Siddique.”

Similarly, Capital TV shared a video clip today on the social media platform X, captioned: “PTI wrote letter to President and Prime Minister to provide facilities to Imran Khan in jail.”

However, upon reviewing the July 5 letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, it was found that the letter was written by Advocate Siddique, chairman of the Judicial Activism Panel (JAP), a public interest forum based in Lahore.

An investigation of the letter’s content revealed no indication that it was written by or at the request or instructions of the PTI founder.

The letter called for a report on Imran’s living conditions, a list of individuals who met him, information on whether he was placed in solitary confinement, and for him to be provided with all facilities he was entitled to under the law.

When contacted by Dawn.com, Advocate Siddique dismissed the notion that Imran had ordered the letter or requested better prison facilities for himself. Siddique emphasized that Imran made no such requests, and that the JAP initiated the letter independently as a human rights organization.

Furthermore, neither Imran’s nor the PTI’s official X accounts shared links to the letter or its text, which they would be expected to do if it were penned by them or on their behalf.

Therefore, Dawn.com has determined that the reports of Imran or the PTI sending the letter to state functionaries seeking an upgrade in his prison facilities are untrue and inaccurate. As confirmed by Advocate Siddique, Imran had no involvement in the letter, which was independently initiated by JAP.